ActionAid, IDS To Govt: Invest In People, End Poverty Now

Governments at all levels have been told to stop paying lip service to poverty reduction and start investing in people if they truly want to lift Nigerians out of hardship.

This was the message from the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, and ActionAid Nigeria during a Poverty Colloquium in Enugu on Monday, marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty with the theme “Acting Together to End Poverty.”

ActionAid’s Country Director, Andrew Mamedu, represented by Head of Programmes, Celestine Odoh, said Nigeria’s poverty problem is man-made and fixable if leaders put people before politics.

He said: “Government must treat citizens’ health, education and social protection as rights, not charity. Our oil and mineral wealth can lift millions if managed right but mismanagement will only deepen poverty.”

He listed poor policies, weak domestic revenue, inflation, and inequality as key drivers of poverty, calling for a people-centred budget that serves the public good, not a few elites.

IDS Director, Prof. Ben Nwosu, painted an even grimmer picture. Citing a new World Bank report, he revealed that 139 million of Nigeria’s 215 million citizens now live in poverty about 65 per cent of the population.

“The figures are alarming,” he warned. “Access to food, water, healthcare, education and basic infrastructure is on a steady decline. It’s time for urgent action.”

UNICEF’s Chief of Field Services, Mrs. Judith Leveillee, said no child should grow up in poverty and no family should struggle alone. She stressed that fighting poverty means building strong systems that protect and empower families, not just giving handouts.

Dr. Friday Ohuche, Chief Economic Adviser to Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, and keynote speaker at the event, said Nigeria’s poverty persists because “the rich don’t care for the poor, and leaders have become disconnected from reality.”

He urged leaders to find the real causes of poverty and fix them by empowering citizens and ensuring fairness in governance.